The Alien Job
by DammitJim
Summary: After the events of Egypt, Galloway won't stand for the Autobots anymore. With NEST disbanded and the Autobots gone, Will and Sam go to the only people they think could help. Leverage/Transformers xover.
1. Chapter 1

**The Alien Job**

A transformers/leverage crossover. It will be moved to the crossover section after the third chapter is uploaded.

Takes place after the second transformers film, and during season two of leverage.

**Disclaimer**: Sadly, I own neither Transformers nor Leverage. The only thing I own in this fic is the plot. I also don't own some direct quotes from Leverage which also feature in this fic. I didn't highlight them or anything because anyone who has watched the series will know which parts are quotes!

Massive thanks to _**Starseeded **_who beta'd, and did a fantastic job!

**Chapter 1**

The sky was gloomy and it was raining slightly as Sam left the mall, leaving Miles behind him in one of the gaming stores with other friends and headed to the parking lot. It didn't really concern him, knowing that Bee was waiting to drive him home, that Mikaela would be home in a few days after visiting family up north. His parents were away for the week, taking a trip Florida in an attempt to make up for the the epic screw up that happened back in September, so everything was ok, despite the weather.

Approaching the golden yellow Camaro, he let the rain fall on him, enjoying the way it felt on his skin. The door popped open just before he arrived, and he sat in the driver's seat, one of the few places he felt completely _safe_. It felt like _home._

"Hey Bee, 'sup?" Sam ran his hand over the dashboard as he spoke and heard the car purr.

"I'm afraid I have bad news, Sam. Decipticons have been seen in the area, so Optimus has asked me to bring you to the base until we sort things out. I'm sorry, Sam, I know you were looking forward to being home without your parental units." The voice spoke from the radio.

"S'cool Bee. All I had planned was spending some time with you, playing some computer games and maybe doing some studying. I can do that at the base." He reassured his guardian.

"They are expecting us there, so we'll need to go to your parents' house to get what you need to last a few days. Hopefully it won't take longer than that."

Bee pulled out of the parking lot, scanners looking out for any signs of Decepticon threat. The pair continued chatting about trivial things, making the short journey pass even more quickly.

Arriving the the Witwicky home, Bee noted that the elder Witwicky's had already left for their Easter holiday, thankfully taking Mojo with them. It wasn't that he disliked the creature, but Ironhide held a firm grudge against the Chihuahua, so taking him to the base would _not_ be a good idea.

He was surprised when Sam left the house only one minute thirty secondes after going in. He popped open his door and Sam climbed in, tossing his bag into the back seat. The teen grinned at the dashboard. "After what happened with the _Fallen_, I've kept a bag packed incase I need to go anywhere in a hurry. Saves us time, huh, Bee?"

The Autobot beeped in agreement and they headed towards the local military base, where they would board a cargo plane that would take them to Diego Garcia and the rest of the Autobot's. The base was located on the East coast, which would take them far too long to get there if he drove.

Flying was not something Bee enjoyed, but he put up with it, knowing that his position as Sam's guardian meant that he had to make far fewer flights than the others did. He shivered in delight as Sam absently stroked the seats as the teen thought.

Reaching the base, the duo was ushered onto a military cargo plane, alongside various crates that were also en route to Diego Garcia. Bee was tied to the floor of the plane, to prevent him moving around and causing an uneven weight distribution on the plane. It was loose enough, that if it were an emergency, he could break free, one of the few things that comforted him about the flight.

It was a long, boring journey. Sam dozed off halfway through; leaning against Bee's front bumper, while the 'bot himself spent his time browsing the internet, eventually settling on a movie.

By the time they arrived on the base, it was late. It wasn't difficult to persuade Sam to go on to bed, the teen still being drowsy from his nap on the plane. The teen left for the room that was reserved for his time on base with his bag in one hand, and the other smothering a yawn, causing Bee to smile to himself.

Bee headed off to the main hanger, where the Autobot's spent their time, happy at the prospect of getting to talk to some of them face-to-face.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Diego Garcia's military base was quiet. The only people around where those who had the nightshift, and even then they were patrolling the edges of the base, away from the hangers.

The Autobot's were in their hanger, soundly recharging and oblivious of the approaching threat, trusting that the nightshift would alert them to any danger.

Silently, the door to the hanger opened, revealing NEST Director Galloway, accompanied by soldiers and men dressed completely in black, carrying guns and other equipment.

The men split into groups, six of the men wearing black and two soldiers carrying what appeared to be a cannon of some sort. The soldiers waited until the others activated their equipment, spraying liquid nitrogen over the 'bots, before shooting their guns, sending massive nets that pinned the sleeping Autobot's to the ground.

As soon as the liquid nitrogen hit the air, it rapid cooled, and by the time it touched, the Autobot's it turned to ice, freezing their joints and cooling their internal systems.

From his position away from the Autobot's, Galloway yelled instructions to the men.

At the other end of the hanger, there were shouts of shock as Optimus Prime began waking, his processors struggling against the extreme cold, but was subdued as men left the side of the smaller Arcee components, and joined the others, spraying enough nitrogen his way to stop him moving.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

On the other side of the base, Jolt was patrolling the base, only to be overcome by men armed with net guns and hoses of liquid nitrogen, rapidly cooling his systems to a temperature low enough to interfere with his processors and forcing him into stasis. His calls for help over his internal comm. went unanswered.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The sounds of shouting and gunfire echoed around the base. Sam, from his position in the guest wing, jolted upright at the sound and threw on the same clothes he wore the day before racing out of his room, heading towards the hanger, where the noises were coming from. On his left, he could see men and women he recognised as NEST soldiers doing the same, looking bleary eyed and confused, but holding their guns firmly.

The doors to the hanger were wide open, making it clear what was happening. Even as they arrived, there was another bang, revealing that the gunfire they heard was the sound of a net gun.

Sam stood there, unable to comprehend what was going on before it dawned on him.

"No, no, no! Get away from them!" the teen shouted, getting progressively louder with each word. He ran up to Galloway, who stood just in the doorway with a few soldiers who didn't have the NEST insignia on their uniforms, watching everything with a smug look on his face that Sam wanted to wipe off.

"Galloway, what's going on? Why are they doing this? You've got to stop!" Sam blurted out as he reached the man.

"Young man, I am doing what should have been done the _moment_ we knew of their presence. Getting rid of them" The Director spoke with conviction.

"They've done nothing wrong – they've helped us save the world!"

"The world only needed saving because of them in the first place! They and their kind have done nothing but bring danger to us!" Galloway snarled. "Get this kid out of here!"

The soldier closest to Sam moved forward to grab him, but Sam ducked under his arms and ran into the hanger.

"What are you doing? They've done nothing wrong – get away from them!" He yelled, attempting to wrestle the spraying nozzle away from one of the men. Members of NEST were attempting to do the same, but the sheer multitude of Galloways men were beginning to overcome them.

The man he was fighting kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, before one of the others tackled him. Sam's head hit the ground with a meaty thunk. The last thing he saw as his vision darkened was Will, armed with knife, trying to free the 'bots

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Part of Will's mind tried to work out where these men had come from, because they had not been here before he went to bed, but he ignored his thoughts as he tried to cut one of the nets from Ironhide, only to be grabbed from behind and dragged away from his guardian.

"Get off'a me! Get the fuck _off_ me!" He shouted, struggling in their grasp. Will felt one of his arms being twisted painfully behind his back, forcing him to his knees unless he wanted a dislocated shoulder. He kicked out at the people behind him, felt his boot connect with someone's leg and heard them swear loudly.

Heartened by the loosened grip, he renewed his struggles, only to feel something heavy slam into his head as he struggled against his captors grasp, and then there was nothing.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

White. All he could see was white, and it was hurting his head. Will groaned and lifted his arm up to shield his eyes.

"Evening, sleeping beauty,"

Epps. That was Epps. Will turned his head and saw his best friend sat in a chair next to his bed. "Epps? What happened? Where am I?"

"You don't remember last night? I think the doctor was lying when he said you'd be ok. We're at Tranquillity Hospital. That asshole Galloway took over the base last night. Put the 'Bots on ice. We all woke up and went to see what the noise was about and saw 'em ambushing Jolt and Ratchet on their patrol. The team tried to stop 'em but there was too many. When they knocked you and Sam out, we went quietly. Dunno why they flew us here, but we were forced on the cargo plane and dumped here."

It came back to him slowly, helped by the throbbing from the back of his head. "Sam?"

Epps gestured to the other side of Will, "They put you two in the same room so I could keep an eye on you."

He glanced over and saw the kid still out cold, and judging by the goose egg on the side of his head, it might be for a while longer too. "Why…why did Galloway take the Autobots? I mean, I know he's got something against them, but they've done nothing wrong."

Epps shrugged and took a sip of coffee from the plastic cup he picked up from the bedside table. "One of the guy's heard Gallo-ass talking about shipping 'em back into space when they can figure out how to get 'em all out there – too heavy for normal space craft. From what I got told, he went and exploded at one of his men who asked about experimentation. Pretty much still thinks that if we get rid of them, then the 'Cons will leave too. Moron."

Will snorted before asking, "Higher up's approved this?"

"Guess so. I mean, we knew he had some pull with the President, 'coz he was will to hand Sam over back in September, so why not this?"

"We're screwed. Without the 'Bots we're gonna get slaughtered by the 'Con's." The Major groaned.

"That ain't the best thing. We all got honourably discharged from the army. Guess they didn't want supporters in the military."

He forced himself to sit up, ignoring the dizziness, and rubbed his face with his hands. "We've gotta do something. We can't let them do this after all the 'Bots have done for us."

"I wanna help, man, but I don't see anythin' we can do," Epps shrugged helplessly.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow. I wasn't expecting such a massive response!!! Thank you ! And thanks to **Starseeded**, who beta'd!

This chapter is less Transformer focused. It introduces you to the Leverage cast, if you don't already know them!

It's also a bit shorter (I think it's the shortest chapter overall), so sorry guys!

**Chapter 2**

There were enough people in McRory's bar that they wouldn't be noticed, but not enough to make it difficult to find a seat, which is why it was the perfect place to hold a meeting. Nate Ford and Sophie Devereaux sat at the end of the bar, drinks in hand, as they waited for their potential clients to walk in. They sat in a comfortable silence, both content with being in each other's presence.

The silence lasted the five minutes it took for their clients to walk in, one o'clock exactly, and easily identified from the background check Hardison had run to make sure it wasn't a set up. Major William Lennox and civilian Samuel Witwicky: the only connection between the pair that could be found was their presence at the Mission City terrorist attacks and an incident in Egypt four months ago.

It was unclear why they wanted to meet with the Leverage team. They had refused to speak with Nate about it over the phone, which made him edgy.

"Mr Witwicky, Mr Lennox, please, take a seat." Sophie welcomed them warmly. "What can we do for you today?"

Both men sat down as Sophie took in their appearance. They were dressed to blend in. Nothing that would attract attention, unmarked baseball caps to hide their face, which looked tired and wary. They looked like they were hiding from someone.

"It's just Sam and Will, really," Samuel Witwicky introduced them, "I take it you're Nate Ford?"

Nate took a sip of his coffer before nodding. "Yes. This is Sophie Devereaux; she's a part of the team. What can we do for you today Sam?"

Sam looked slightly hesitant to begin, but after looking around to see if anyone was listening in started. "Well, two years ago-"

"Sorry, look," Will interrupted looking around to see if anyone was listening in, "What we have is highly classified information. Do you have anywhere more…secure to talk about this?"

Nate stared at him, trying to figure out if it was worth irritating the rest of the team by taking them to their 'office'. Sophie nudged him with her foot and nodded. "Right, if you'll follow me we'll take you somewhere we can talk."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Opening the door to his flat above the bar, Nate saw Hardison sat on the sofa playing on his Playstation 3, Eliot cleaning his knives on the dinner table and Parker was… well Parker was being Parker.

Hearing the door open, all three had looked up, eyes focussing on them before sliding behind him. Simultaneously, three sets of eyes narrowed.

"Take a seat on the sofa." He gestured to the potential clients, ignoring his team's clearly annoyed gazes for the moment. "Hardison's on the sofa - turn the game off – he's our hacker; Eliot's at the table, Eliot's a retrieval specialist and hitter; the resident thief is climbing in through the window, she's Parker; Sophie, she's the grifter, acting is what she does best. I'm the 'honest man' who helped put the team together."

The team approached to shake hands, before moving to the sofas and taking their usual places. When everyone was comfortably sat down, with refreshments courtesy of Sophie – ever the professional – Nate began. "Okay, Mr. Lennox, Mr. Witwicky, the flat is secure. If you'd like to tell us the problem, we'll see if we can help."

Sam put a small pile of folders on the coffee table. "Right, for you to understand this properly, we need to start with what happened a few years ago. It's gonna sound insane, but these folders can tell you everything you need to know. Just over two years ago I bought a car, a '76 Camaro, yellow with black stripes. There was a couple things wrong with it; sticky breaks, faulty radio, faded paint, but it was a cheap four grand car, so it was expected. What I didn't expect was for this car to drive off on its own the same night."

"But cars don't do that," Parker interrupted. No one answered, so she looked around anxiously, "They don't – do they?"

"Yeah, well, most don't. So, I followed it to a scrap yard. I hid behind another car and watched it transform. Into a giant robot. Turns out that it's not just a giant robot, but a giant _alien_ robot, fighting a war to save Earth, and there are more of them."

There was silence.

"Kid, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I have better things to do than play games." Eliot growled and stood up, ready to 'escort' the men out.

"No, Sam's telling the truth." Will hurriedly assured them. "Look in the folders. The Mission city attack in '07 was caused by them. There are two factions –Autobots and Decepticons. The Decepticons were after something called the All-spark, this cube that created life for them, and wanted to use it to take over and destroy Earth.

"The Autobots – the good guys – wanted to stop them, and ended up wrecking half the city before the cubed was destroyed by Sam here. The Decepticon's have attacked more than a dozen times over the past two years and a secret government team, NEST, have assisted the Autobots. I was the leader of NEST before it got shut down a few months ago."

"I _knew it!_" Hardison exclaimed excitedly. Everyone turned to look at him as he started typing rapidly onto his keyboard. Images flashed onto the screen as he started to talk. "About two days after the mission city 'terrorist' attack, all information was wiped. Literally, a government black out. Just mentioning it online raised red flags. But, before that there was talk about giant robots, army tanks and jets attacking the city. There were even a few fuzzy pictures."

As if to punctuate what he was saying, blurry images appeared on screen, along with witness reports. "Images like this have popped up a few times over the past two years, but it's the same after Mission City: everything gets wiped. Man, I knew somethin' was going on! This is better than Star trek man!"

"Right," Will moved on, "if you look in the folders, you'll see reports on NEST, the Autobot's, Presidential secrecy orders, and the truth behind certain terrorist attacks"

Everyone picked up a folder and started flicking through. Nate looked up from a spec's report of an Autobot called 'Optimus Prime', including pictures of a blue and red Peterbilt. "Say we believe you. What do you need us for? We provide 'leverage' against the rich and powerful. We don't fight giant alien robots."

"That's not what we want you to do, don't worry" Sam reassured the team. "September last year the President appointed National security advisor Theodore Galloway director to NEST, giving him control over everything. Now Galloway, he's a real nasty piece of work. Prejudiced, greedy shit. He wanted the Autobots gone. Thought the 'cons would leave if we got rid of the 'bots. Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, agreed that if that was what everyone wanted, they would go, but chances were, the 'Con's would stay – this was before what happened in September – so Galloway was furious.

"What with what happened in Egypt – that's detailed in the folder you're holding." he gestured to Nate, "He shut NEST down, waited until the Autobots were in recharge, and puts them in cryostasis. That was a few months ago. Since then the Decepticons have been attacking whenever they want."

Will continued where Sam left off. "New York, two weeks ago, four apartment buildings collapsed, several more critically damaged and over a thousand dead or injured. PR said a gas line explosion, but it was Starscream having fun. Three cruise ships sank in a 'collision' a month ago – Megatron picked one out of the sea and dropped it on another, before firing on a third. There are more examples. They're running riot and there's no one to stop them because NEST was dismantled."

"But that's not the only reason we came to you," Sam continued. "The Autobot's are friends, family. Bumblebee's my best friend, and Optimus is like a father, and we want them back. What we want _you _to do, is break them out."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Two hours later, and a more detailed explanation of the 'giant alien robots' later the team plus Will and Sam were working on the basis of a plan.

"Hardison, what've you got on Galloway so far?" Nate barked at the hacker as he paced in front of the screens.

"Theodore Galloway. Late forties, no wife or kids. Parents dead, one brother, Erik, who's a low level government worker-"

"Erik with a 'c' or a 'k'?" Parker interrupted, head tilted slightly to one side as she gazed across the room at Hardison from her seat on the kitchen counter.

"With a 'k', why?"

"Erik with a 'c', nice and friendly, Erik with a 'k' is nasty." She stated in an 'everyone-knows-that' tone.

"Right, well it's with a 'k' so he's nasty like his brother. Anyway. No hobbies, only upcoming social event in his calendar is a government function, the 'Soiree Prestige Fundraising Gala' in L.A., nothing exciting, finance is normal, two properties, a house in Washington, and an apartment in New York. This guy is boring with a capital 'B'. Man needs to get a life." Hardison muttered.

Sam smirked. "You're telling me. I pity anyone who's subjected to him."

"Yeah, but while he's off inflicting himself on Government sleaze balls, we're defenceless against the enemy and wasting time ducking the tail he's put on us." Will spoke angrily.

"Which is why we're going to remove you from his radar completely. Don't worry, Will, we'll sort everything out." Sophie reassured the duo before turning to Hardison as he continued.

"Hoover Dam. Do you know how difficult it was to get the plans for this place? Do you? Hmm? Feeling a little underappreciated here-"

"Hardison, get on with it," Nate interrupted, unsurprised by Hardison's mini-rant. He tended to do it every now and then.

"Humph. Right, well. Hoover Dam received seven pieces of large cargo from a San Diego military base shortly after NEST was shut down. That's the Autobots. Scientists clear out around eleven pm, but start at five in the morning, so we have a four hour gap if we want to stay on the safe side. Security doubles between nine pm and six am, and part of the security team monitors the Autobots through a security feed. Corridor patrols every twenty minutes in a grid search pattern, with four guards in each group and five groups a floor."

"Sounds about right from when we were there two years ago. They beefed up the security a bit since then though. Shows they have at least some common sense, as much as I hate to admit it." Will mentioned.

"Every ones has a bit of sense. Just some have less than others. So, only way in or out is the main entrance. You have to have a pass to get in. If you want to go anywhere when you get in, you need the electric pass and fingerprints of someone with authorisation to be there. To get where the Autobots are held, you need top clearance. Thirty scientists have that clearance, but only on the times their supposed to be in. Galloway has an all access pass twenty-four seven. He's our best bet." The hacker finished, leaning back into his chair.

Nate stopped pacing. "That's our way in. This is what we're going to do."


	3. Chapter 3

Beta'd by the wonderful** Starseeded!**

**Chapter 3**

The room was full of rich, snooty, slimy politicians. It made Sophie's skin crawl. She looked down at her black silk dress with cleavage on show (purely for the mark, of course. It had nothing to do with Nate) and Manolo stilettos she felt slightly better, even more so when looking at the diamond necklace she wore. She looked good and she knew it as she walked over to the bar, noting Parker dressed as a waitress and holding a tray of champagne glasses as she moved around the room. Nate was in the far left corner talking to an older gentlemen and a woman she assumed to be his wife. Hardinson was running security in the van.

"Where's the mark?" She spoke quietly, lips hardly moving behind the glass of wine she was holding.

"I just _don't know_ what to say!" Nate's voice came over the comm., responding to her question and that of the couple he was talking to. Sophie heard the woman titter a reply, but didn't really listen to what she said and her eyes glance over the room, trying not to make it obvious that she was looking for someone.

From his position in the back of their van, Hardison sat with his laptop, searching through the hacked security feed for the building. "He was definitely there during the cocktail reception earlier; I saw him talking to the Sec Def."

"He was at the meal too – I was near his table a few times," Parker added as she handed a glass of champagne to a person near her.

"Wait," Hardison zoomed in on one of the security feeds, "Our boy Teddy just came in."

Sophie looked towards the door, disguising the movement as turning around back to the bar and ordering another drink. She contemplated moving towards Galloway, but decided against it as he turned in her direction.

Waiting for him to make his way to the bar – and her – Sophie glanced at her watch. It was just ten o'clock now. They needed to get his I.D. pass soon if they wanted to make it within their time limit. Eliot was waiting at a private airstrip with Parker's plane waiting to fly them to another private airstrip near the Dam, which would take around an hour. Add in driving time, which would probably be another hour, and it would be midnight at earliest, leaving them four hours to get in and get the Autobot's out if they wanted to be safe. She sighed.

As the mark approached, Sophie was struck by just how short the man was. Maybe 'short man' syndrome accounted for some of his actions? She dismissed the thought as Galloway drew closer.

"I've got him," she whispered, slightly unnecessarily, as the others had watched the approach.

"Alright Sophie, I've got security footage of him tucking his pass in the inside pocket of his jacket, left side. Parker, stay near her," Hardison directed them.

"I'll have a gin and tonic, one slice of lime, one slice of lemon and two cubes of ice." A slightly nasal voice ordered the bartender from her right.

She turned to face the mark. "Good choice. I'm more partial to wine, myself,"

Galloway found himself face to face with her chest. He struggled to lift his eyes to her face, and just barely managed it, speaking what he must have thought to be smoothly. "And you are?"

"Kirsty Connelly, reporter with 'The Ledger'." As she spoke, Sophie moved around him so she was on his right, purposely leaving her drink behind, and held her hand out to shake.

"Theodore Galloway. And what a _pleasure _it is to meet you. May I get you a drink?" He asked, shaking her hand.

"Thank you, but I only just ordered one." Sophie reached across the front of the bar to the glass she left on Galloway's other side. At the same time, her other hand reached into his inner pocket and carefully lifted the man's pass. Pulled back, she held the pass by her side and subtly held it out to Parker, who walked passed holding a half-empty tray. As planned, his greedy little eyes had followed the diamond bracelet decorating her wrist over the bar and to her drink.

"I'm so sorry, but my Editor is waving me over. Maybe I'll see you later? Ask a few questions?" She gave him a seductive smile and watched him turn red as he stuttered out a response she didn't listen to.

Sophie walked in a direction away from the doors, to avoid making it obvious she was leaving. "Done."

Hearing the confirmation, Parker handed the tray of drinks she was holding to a politician who gave her a rather startled look, and moved towards the exit. Nate casually broke off from his conversation and headed her way, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and started talking about a newspaper article she was supposedly writing as he walked with her to the doors after a few minutes.

As soon as they were out the doors, Sophie dumped the wine in a plant pot and left the glass there too. "God, I hate cheap wine."

"Sophie, that was a fifty dollar glass of wine." Nate protested

"Exactly. It was cheap."

Parker joined them in the car parker, having left through the back way and they walked to the van, where Hardinson was waiting. Sophie peeled a thin film off her hands and held it up to the light of a nearby street light. _'Perfect set of finger prints and a pass,_' she smirked to her self.

"Can I drive?" Parker chirped up suddenly.

Sophie and Nate exchanged a wary glance.

"Um…sure, just be careful." Nate handed over the keys. Some sixth sense was screaming at him that it was a mistake, but if he took the keys back know, Parker would get upset and that wasn't something he wanted to deal with, especially with Sophie around. She'd be furious.

"Fuck." Hardison whimpered and clung to the 'oh shit' bar. He was the only one who had been in a car with Parker driving. The first (what had been hopefully been the last) time it had taken him three hours to stop shaking, and the rest of the day before his stomach settled enough to eat anything. The others would learn soon enough.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

As soon as the van skidded to a stop in the hanger, the side door opened and three dishevelled people spilled out, looking slightly pale. The other door opened and Parker jumped out, looking rather excited.

"That was fun" She grinned.

"Sophie…remind me to never let Parker drive." Nate groaned.

"It can't have been that bad." Eliot spoke up as he opened the door to the small aircraft, revealing that he had already changed into his 'aide' suit. All he had heard from the comm. while he sorted the plane out had been screams of fright and Parker yelling.

Hardison glared at the Hitter. "Man, why don't you let Parker drive you next time you need to go somewhere. We'll see what you say then."

He pushed his way past Eliot and onto the plane, clutching his laptop to his chest as he settled into one of the seats. Eliot growled and shoved him back.

When everyone had settled, Eliot took the plane into the air and the rest of them changed. Nate had changed into the same outfit he had for the job with Monica Hunter. Parker had shed her waitress outfit (as shamelessly as ever, she just changed where she sat rather than moving to the back of the plane and out of peoples sight like Nate had) for the usual outfit she wore when a job would involve using her harness and/or climbing through vents, and tied her hair back. Sophie was rather comfortable in her outfit so just added a jacket. Hardison had no need to change either, as he would remain in a nearby hotel room with Sophie, monitoring the feeds.

Like Sophie had predicted, the journey lasted about an hour, and they arrived at the private airstrip at approximately eleven thirty.

There were two cars and a van waiting for them. The cars were average size, nothing fancy enough to attract attention, but suitable for the position that Nate would be playing. Hardinson had had them delivered to the location by the company he had brought them from for a small fee – nothing noticeable with his sizable accounts.

The van was similar to the one they usually used in cons; three seats in the front and nothing in the back, making it perfect for Hardinson to set up his equipment, which would let them do their jobs safely.

Dividing into groups, Sophie and Parker climbed into the van with Hardison; having done her part of the con, Sophie would help the hacker with surveillance, while Eliot went to one of the cars and Nate into the other.

Leaving the airstrip, the van went first, to allow Hardison time to hack security and for Parker to get into the Dam. It wouldn't be an easy job, even for someone of Hardison's calibre, as the closest they could get to the Dam without actually driving onto it would be the railroad hiking trail, which was an offshoot of highway ninety three, the road which went straight over Hoover Dam. It was also a small hike for Parker, but it was something she was used to.

Meanwhile, Nate and Eliot took their time to leave, making sure that they had all the things they needed (and might need) to pull off the job.

Waiting for the go ahead from Hardison always made Nate impatient; though that could be because he didn't really understand computers, unlike the situation with Parker. In his time at the IYS insurance company acting as their fraud investigator, he had spent long hours observing or waiting for a target, looking for evidence of fraud. If they wanted Parker to be ok, it was best to let her take her own time to get it and do what she needed to do.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The black cars pulled up to the security booth, stopping when several men in army fatigues approached the driver's window, which rolled down to reveal a middle aged man, undeniably a Major by his uniform.

"Sir, this is a restricted area, I'm afraid you're going to have to turn around now,"

"And you are?" Nate asked in a drawled.

"Captain Hadley, sir." The soldier saluted.

"Well…Captain Hadley... did you not get the message from Director Galloway stating that I'd be visiting tonight?"

Hadley looked slightly nervous at this. "No sir. We've received no messages today about any visits."

"Soldier," Nate barked, "Galloway sent that message hours ago. Do you not check your email? Goddamn, what if it had been important? I'm reporting this, soldier!"

Captain Hadley bolted back into the booth, past his companions, and pounded the log in details into the computer, to reveal an email dated five pm that afternoon, clearing a visit from an unnamed Major and his aide, with photographic confirmation. He rushed back out to the fierce looking Major waiting in the car.

"Sir, you may continue. I apologise about this. There must have been a problem with the email system."

Nate nodded and scrolled his window back up and drove on, mentally thanking Hardison's abilities to back date things. "We're past the entrance. Parker, you in?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Parker was crawling through her sixth consecutive air vent. Getting into the Dam hadn't really been a problem with the building plans Hardison had pulled up. It was the distance between the control room and the one holding the Autobots that was taking her time.

She had listened as everyone chattered on and gamely made her way to the control room, before first cutting the wire of the alarm system, and then the one powering the cryostasis blocks, following the instructions Hardinson gave her, and getting him into the computer systems via her cell phone. It had all gone smoothly.

Now, Parker estimated she had approximately five minutes to get to where the giant alien robots were before they woke up. They almost sounded worse than horses – Parker didn't think she'd ever feel comfortable driving her car again.

When Nate's voice sounded in her ear, she nearly tuned it out, until her name was mentioned.

"I'm nearly there, right Hardison?" she whispered, despite knowing that there were no soldiers around. The hacker had placed a tracker on her earlier so he could tell her how close she was.

"Yep, you should be approaching a grate, five feet ahead of you, which you need to drop through."

As he spoke, Parker's fingers came into contact with it. She pulled it off silently and slid out the vent, somersaulting as she fell to stand on her feet.

Looking around she saw what they'd been looking for. She was literally surrounded by giant alien robots. And it looked their estimation time had been off. All eleven Autobots were most definitely awake, and looking rather startled at the human that had just dropped into their midst.

Suddenly, Parker felt rather small. "Oh, shiny tomatoes, you guys are big. And shiny. Definitely shiny."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Back in the van, Hardison was lounging on a fold up chair, his trademark 'Orange Jones' soda cradled in his hands and laptop settled on the makeshift table in front of him. Sophie sat next to him, bottle of mineral water and a half eaten salad in a Tupperware box resting on the floor by her feet as she watched the security feed. She saw Nate and Eliot enter the Dam, using Galloway's swipe card and passed the fingerprint scanner successfully, thanks to the prints Sophie had lifted earlier and Hardison's gummy worm trick.

"Okay Nate, Eliot, you need to go down another three corridors – left, left, right - and you'll be in the right place. Parker, you're in, right?"

"Oh, shiny tomatoes, you guys are big. And shiny. Definitely shiny." Parker's timid voice came over the comm.

Sophie frowned. "Parker, sweetie, are you alright? What's going on?"

"Well, we were definitely off with our estimation on how long it would take for them to unfreeze. And they're much bigger than they look like in the photos. It's like the horses. I don't like it." She sounded nervous.

"Parker, Nate and Eliot are just a few corridors away, are you going to be alright?" Sophie mothered her over the comm.

"I think so."

-----------

A/N Parker has a phobia of horses ever since she saw one kill a clown as a child. THe horse was actually a man in a suit, but meh, they still scare her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a quick note; the movies don't introduce the Arcee triplets as separate femmes, it's more like they have a collective 'hive' mind for the three components (also seen in some of the books). I know the Hasbro toy line named the components as Arcee, Elita-1 and Chromia, but I a lot of fics I've read have them bigger than motorcycles, and I tend to agree with that, so here Arcee is one femme with three components.**

**Also, blatantly 'borrowed' from a Leverage con towards the end of the chapter. It's one of my favourites!**

**Thanks to Starseeded, who beta'd!!**

**Chapter 4**

"Um…hi?" Parker said, waving up at the Autobots that towered above her. One had a whirling thing that looked like a canon pointed at her.

"Ooh, I bet my C4's better than that." She stated, staring into its blue light.

"Femme, what _are_ you doing? And how did you get in here?" The one with the cannon growled at her.

"Right, right. I'm with the rescue party. I came through the vents."

All eleven beings just stared at her.

"Really, I am, and Nate and Eliot should be here by now." The sound of a door sliding open caused everyone to spin around.

Nate stood there in his army fatigues, a large canvas bag at his feet and Eliot right behind him, who did not looking happy at how nervous Parker appeared to be. Moving towards the largest Autobot, he took charge. "Optimus Prime? We've been sent here by William Lennox and Samuel Witwicky to get you guys out of here. I don't know if you're aware, but it's been several months since Theodore Galloway gave orders to place you in cryostasis and disbanded NEST."

He then turned to Ironhide, who had one cannon pointed at them and the other at Parker. "And you. Put those away before Parker over there decides to see how her C4 works against your armour. If you upset her, you'll regret it. And Sophie will kill me." He muttered. Unfortunately, it was loud enough that both Sophie and the Autobots could hear.

Mudflap and Skids sniggered, while Ironhide shut down the cannons reluctantly after voiced his opinion. "Agreed, Ironhide. If they _are_ here to help, then it would be best not to annoy them."

Parker, now safe from immediate danger, moved over to Eliot who was still stood near the door, ad observed the Autobots, still slightly uncomfortable around them.

The Prime bent down so he was face to face with Nate. "Human, is it possible to talk to William Lennox to confirm the situation?"

Nate took out his earpiece and lifted it up. "You think you can tap the frequency? Lennox and Witwicky are in a safe location, no communication devices except one of the comm.'s for safety."

Clearly, it was possible, because a moment later the tall Mech was conversing with Will, confirming what Nate had just said.

"Welcome back big guy. Look, we don't have time to explain everything now, so go along with what Nate and his team tell you. If anyone can get you out of there, it's them. Then we'll meet up and brief you on what's happened while you've been detained. Say hi to the others for me, and Sam wants me to say that's he's glad you're all okay, and for you to tell 'Bee that he's fine."

"If you trust these people, William Lennox, then we shall trust them too. Nate, if that was your name, what do you need us to do?"

"Hardison, have you emailed the specs to my phone?" Nate asked the hacker.

"Yeah, man, all ready to go. You have another twelve minutes before the next patrol, so hurry it up."

Nate looked up at the Autobots. "You guys are too conspicuous in the alt modes you've got. Uploaded in my phone are the specs for a few vehicles that are less obvious, which will help us sneak you off base. Will told me you'd sort it out among yourselves."

"Of course, if it will help us leave." Optimus agreed, and quickly chose the only alt mode that would fit a Mech his size. The others followed suit and were quickly unrecognisable from their previous forms.

"I don't see why we need their help" Sideswipe muttered to Jolt, mourning the loss of his corvette alt mode. "Now we're all unfrozen, we could just blast our way out"

Jolt rolled his optics. "Do you understand the word inconspicuous? The humans want to get us out of here without anyone knowing. Gives us a bigger head start"

"They couldn't catch me anyway." Sideswipe boasted.

"_Stop talking that blah, blah, blah" _Bumblebee's radio crackled as he moved closer to them, before cobbling together a few more words. "_Shh...message from Starfleet, Captain"_

"Bee's right. Shut up, Sides', we need to listen."

While the Mechs had been talking, Nate had been running through their next move with the others.

"Right, we've got Hardison running loops on the security cameras so we have just over ten minutes to get you guys close enough to the exit to make a run for it. It'll be easier for us to split into staggered groups, so two fives and a four."

There was a bit of a shuffle as the Autobots split into groups: Nate and Bumblebee, Jolt and Sideswipe were group one, Eliot, the Arcee triplets and Ratchet were another and Parker, Optimus, Ironhide and the twins were the third.

Nate's group went first, followed by Eliot's three minutes later, and Parkers after that.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Three cars approached the booth to get out. Two were the same cars which had entered earlier. The third was new.

Captain Hadley approached the lead car and saw the gruff face of the same Major that he'd let in earlier. In the car behind was the man's aide. He waved them on through, giving a sharp salute to the Major. It was the third car that made him pause.

The driver was one of their scientists. He could swear that he'd seen her leave earlier, but if she was here, he must be mistaken. He waved her on through anyway and made his way back to the booth, scratching his head in confusion.

"Same Major, huh?" One of his comrades smirked; it wasn't him getting reported.

"Yeah. You know, I think I'm losing it. I swear I saw this scientist leave a few hours ago, but she just drove out. You know - the brunette with the legs a mile long."

"Lisa? Yeah, she left a while ago. I only remember 'cause she gave me her number. You sure it wasn't someone else, mate?"

"No, it was Lisa. You don't forget someone with legs like that, bro." He tapped something into the computer. "See, she signed out nine pm sharp."

"Well if that wasn't Lisa, then who was it?"

"_Shit_! Get someone to check the NBEs. Galloway said they could do things like that! Nobody gets in or out of the Dam!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Back on the trail, Sophie rushed out the back doors to the van and into the driver's seat. The engine was barely on when she wrenched it into gear and stomped on the accelerator, throwing Hardison from his seat in the back while he struggled to keep his laptop on the table.

"Yo, slow down Sophie!"

"Sorry Hardison, but our plan's been found out. We need to get out of here." Sophie apologised as she shifted it up a gear, speeding along the bumpy trail. If they followed the current path, they could rejoin the main road in a few miles, which, to the casual observer, would make it look like it was just a coincidence that they were on the same road as 'escaping NBE's'.

"Just keep an eye on the laptop and help Parker and Eliot. Nate, we'll meet you at Industrial road in Boulder City," She spoke into her comm.

"Sophie? What's going on?" Will's voice spoke in her ear. He had been almost silent the whole time, just listening to what was going on as he understood the need for concentration.

"They may have just realised that some Autobots could have escaped. We're retreating for the moment"

"We can't just leave them there!" Sam, panicking, joined the conversation. Loudly.

"We're not going to Sam," Sophie coolly informed him. "We've got people still in there too. Nate will have a backup plan. He always does."

In the back, Hardison found himself going slightly cross-eyed as he tried to keep his eyes on the laptop despite bouncing around as the van crossed the uneven trail.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Three cars pulled up, each coming from a different direction. The road was clear of people at this time of night, with the exception of a black van.

Nate got out of the cherry red Lamborghini Reventon, the newest alt mode of Sideswipe, who had changed it only a few minutes prior, as had Jolt (now a blue-grey Corvette ZR-1) and Bumblebee (a black and yellow Chevy Camaro SS)

Walking the short distance to the van, he pulled open the back doors to reveal Hardison lying on the floor, an empty Orange Jones bottle lying in a puddle of the sticky drink, salad leaves and bits of chicken scattered everywhere and Sophie, who was sat comfortably in the driver's seat.

Ignoring all of this, Nate pulled a bag out from beneath the temporary table and pulled out a change of clothes for himself. It was part of the original plan, though he wasn't sure how much longer that would pan out..

"Hardison, how's it looking for Parker and Eliot?" He asked as he got changed.

"I've got the security feed on a loop still, so no one knows where they are, but they're on to us. Hadley realised that it was a break out just after you guys got out, and the patrols have already started"

"Alright, Parker, go for the injury scam, if nothing else, that should help you surprise them" Nate ordered, looking at the security feeds, "You've got three minutes before they're onto you"

"Ok, Nate" Parkers voice came over the comm.'s

Nate straightened the collar of his suit, reached into his pocket and pulled out two rings. He tossed one in front to Sophie, and slid the other onto his own finger.

"Alright, Hardison, when they get out, you're going to drive the van. Sophie, you'll come with me and Sideswipe, we're a wealthy couple heading home from a night out in Vegas." He turned to face the Autobots who had been silently observing what went on. "Jolt, 'Bee, you two should stick together. I want you to head on over to where Will and Sam are - Hardison will send you their location – and drive straight to Box Springs mountain park, in Riverside. If we're not there by eight AM, take them somewhere else, understand?"

"_Sir, yes, sir!"_ came from 'Bee's radio and the two roared off, leaving the others behind.

"Need me to do anything, Nate?" Sideswipe asked.

"At the moment? Just sit there and look pretty"

"I'm always pretty- I mean handsome. I'm always handsome. Not pretty." The Lamborghini hastily corrected himself.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"The NBE chamber is empty, sir! We found most of the patrol for this floor unconscious."

Panic was an emotion Captain Hadley was familiar with thanks to his years in the army. The cold sweat forming on his face and palms, the unsettled stomach, rush of thoughts could be overwhelming, but he hadn't got to his position by giving into it. Keeping his voice steady, he spoke into the radio.

"Call in the patrols and do a sweep. Arm yourselves with heavy duty weapons. We cannot allow them to escape"

"Yes, sir!"

Hadley let the radio drop onto the table in the security lodge. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before picking it up again and switching to a different station.

"We have a breach by the NBEs! Back up requested. Repeat, breach by the NBEs, back up requested for support!"

The radio crackled in silence before hissing to life, "Back up en-route. ETA ten minutes."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Almost before Nate finished speaking Parker grabbed the bag she had left with one of the twins, produced a skirt suit and stripped off her clothes. Optimus and Ironhide instantly looked away (Ironhide had once walked past the Lennox home while Sarah was getting changed, passing her window, and received a lamp to the head – Optimus was just a gentleman), while the twins wolf-whistled.

"Yo Skids, this human don't mind showing it off, do she?" Mudflap elbowed his brother.

Parker ignored them and pulled on the skirt (which had a larger than normal slit in the back to allow for better movement) and white dress shirt. Just as she was putting the suit jacket on, Eliot rounded the corner with Ratchet and the Arcee triplets.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ratchet asked them, as he observed their flurry of activity. "You have done a lot for us and we wish to help."

Parker was currently strapping on a leg brace, while Eliot had pulled some make up out the bag and brushing a spectacular bruise onto her jaw line. He had no real need to change, already wearing a suit.

Looking away from his mini masterpiece, Eliot said, "Best thing for you to do for the moment is move out of sight. We're pulling the injury con so that we can get close enough to them to gain the advantage. Plus, Will told us you don't harm humans."

"If that is your wish. But if you need help, we will be here." Optimus conceded, and they moved out of sight surprisingly quickly for beings their size.

Rummaging through the bag, Parker withdrew a shortened crutch. She had only just extended and moved the bag out of the way when the first soldier came around the corner. Pretending not to notice, she took a wobbly step forward, Eliot at her elbow pretending to help.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, I need to see some I.D." The man asked, taking in the massive bruising, leg brace and pain the woman's face was expressing.

"Could you stare any harder? What's wrong with you?" Eliot spat, taking the man's attention away from Parker as they moved closer.

"It's alright, he didn't mean to, Greg," Parker wailed

"It's not alright. Have some respect, will you!" Eliot spat.

The soldier stuttered out apologies, and moved backwards a few paces. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I really do need to see some I.D from the pair of you."

"Oh, I've got it somewhere. I'm sorry about this, ever since the accident, I've been forgetting things," Parker said in a slightly distressed voice, pretending to search through her pockets with one hand. "Ah, here it is!"

Her other hand tightened around the handle of the crutch, and when the man moved forward to take her I.D she swung it at his head, knocking him out. Immediately after, she used the crutch as a balance as she kicked the guy next to him in the stomach, sending him staggering back into the wall.

To her right she could see Eliot dealing with some soldiers of his own, but doing spectacularly as usual. He pulled one of the soldiers gun away with a growl. "I _don't_ _like_ guns."

It wasn't as if they would have used them anyway. In the crowded corridor, bullets could rebound against their own men.

Parker paid for her brief moment of inattention with a punch to the face. Ironically, it was in the same place Eliot had painted a bruise.

From their position, the Autobots could see everything going on. Six of the soldiers were down but, more were waiting. In fact, six of the soldiers were trying to circle the pair. Moving swiftly, all two of the Arcee components plucked the men from the fight and bashed their heads together hard enough to knock them out instantly before throwing them to their third component who put them in a nearby room. The two they hadn't managed to get were quickly distracted from Eliot and Parker by the two nine foot femmes who had taken their companions.

Despite knowing that this breach in Optimus' rules about not harming humans would lead to disciplinary action, she would not stand by as their rescuers were overwhelmed.

It was still ten to two, until Ironhide and Ratchet rounded the corner, massive saw and cannons whirring for effect. One of the soldiers actually fainted at the sight.

Mimicking Arcee's actions, they scooped more soldiers out of the fight, and tossed the men back to the twins, who shut them in a nearby room with the ones Arcee had dispatched.

That left five soldiers. Three surrounded Eliot, leaving two to Parker who still had the crutch in hand and using it for extra reach. Holding it firmly with both hands, Park raised it to eye level and jabbed it at the men either side of her, catching one in the shoulder, and, from the sound of it, breaking the others nose.

In her ear, Hardison groaned suddenly. "Man, this is _not _good. They're setting up a blockade and some road spikes. And the soldiers up there have some big-ass guns. Guys, you ain't gonna be getting out that way. Nate, we need a new plan."

Parker rolled her eyes, and punched a different soldier. Apparently, they had attracted the attention of part of another patrol. "Saying that is a bit distracting Hardison."

"Nate," Eliot snarled impatiently between punches, "We need to get out of here. Hurry up with that plan."


	5. Chapter 5

**Many thanks to Starseeded who beta'd!!**

**Chapter 5**

Optimus Prime was ever so slightly confused. And impressed – in that order.

The last thing he remembered was going into recharge at Diego Garcia, and what was apparently two Earth months and a week later according to his systems, they were in Hoover Dam, waking up from Cryostasis and being broken out by a team of what appeared to be thieves, on the behest of William Lennox and Samuel Witwicky. If he had to guess, then he would name Director Galloway was behind it all.

Optimus would readily admit that he was impressed with what he had seen (and heard, since he had locked onto the frequency of the comm.'s). From what he understood, there were five of them, and they worked well together, running a smooth operation. When things went wrong, after Nate had left with three of his men, they had fallen on a backup plan, which would buy them some time, while Nate came up with a new plan. The two left behind, Parker and Eliot, were skilled fighters and convincing actors. He was bemused with the backup plan, and had observed the way the two had prepared, without even having to speak.

There was little for he and his men to do, without hurting the humans severely, but none of them liked being helpless – and they liked watching two humans fighting twenty others even less – so they helped in the fight, doing their best to either scare the humans away or incapacitate them without serious damage. Optimus knew that he would have to punish them, but with the circumstances, he would ensure that the punishment was mild.

Then Nate's voice came over the comm. and his curiosity was aroused.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Safe in the front seat of Sideswipe Nate rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. At least they had three of the Autobots out of the Dam before they instigated one of the back up plans. "Parker, plan E,"

He winced, hearing Parker's squeal of excitement over the comm. "Well at least someone's happy about it."

Sophie looked over from the passenger seat. "Nate, what's plan E?"

Ignoring her question, he continued. "Hardison, can you direct her to the nearest wall of the face of the Dam?"

Sideswipe chuckled to himself. He could see where this was leading, having done similarly himself on occasion. "Watch and learn Sophie"

From his place in the van, Hardison pulled up the plans for the Dam on his laptop, pin-pointing the thief's location through the trackers in their comm.'s, and where they would have to move. "Parker, you need to take a right at the end of the corridor you're in, then another right. That takes you directly to the face of the Dam. From there, it's a long drop to the bottom."

He leaned back against his seat. "All I can say is thank god for extra long life laptop batteries."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Back at the Dam, Eliot was still surrounded by five soldiers. The Autobots had helped with the others, mainly scaring them into leaving because if they tried to knock one out, chances are the soldier would end up dead.

While this was happening, Parker swirled around to face the Autobots and pointed. "You. Mr. Trigger Happy. I need to borrow your cannons. This way."

Without another word she picked up the heavy bag Nate had left with her just in case. The thief moved quickly, ignoring the Mech's questions, and followed Hardison's directions before coming face to face with a massive wall.

"Can you blast a hole through this wall big enough for you all to get through? I don't want to waste my C4 when you could do the job just as well – if I did, then I'd have to spend money getting more, and that just hurts." She pouted at the Mech.

Ironhide grunted as his cannons whirled to life. "My calculations suggest that it would be wise for you to stand behind me to avoid being hurt by the explosion."

Parker 'hmmd' her agreement and smoothly moved behind him as the blue energy left his cannon, blasting a massive hole in the wall.

"Thanks," She smiled, eyes bright as she thought of the explosion she had just witnessed. "Eliot, we're ready to go if you're done."

A low growl came over the comm. followed by the sound of flesh smacking flesh and something hitting the ground. "On our way."

Once again ignoring the Mech behind her, the blonde woman reached into the bag she had brought with her and pulled out her equipment. Two spring loaded camming devices were attached to part of one of the walls, rapidly attaching a carabiner, a mechanical descender, rope and harnesses, leaving her harness unattached for freedom of movement. As soon as she was done she wriggled out of her skirt and pulled on the trousers she had worn before, along with her boots.

"Femme," Ironhide began.

"Parker." the woman in question stated as she tied the ropes.

"Parker. I fail to see the plan. My systems have calculated that there is a five hundred and six point three feet drop between us and the ground. Despite the curvature of the structure, you would fail to survive the fall."

"Not without this we wouldn't. Don't worry about us, Mr. Ironhide. Will assured us that you and the others would be able to slide down without too much damage."

As she finished speaking, the other seven Autobots rounded the corner and immediately started to climb through the wall and slide down after a brief exchange of words with Ironhide. Eliot rounded the corner almost straight after Mudflap and Skids began their slide, whooping in joy. On his heels were four soldiers, who were flushed in anger.

Moving to join him in the fight, Parker got close enough to him to direct him without their opponents hearing, "Eliot, get into harness."

The Hitter nodded in agreement and ducked out of the fight and over to where the spare harness lay. He expertly fitted the harness to himself, grateful for the few times Parker had insisted that the team go rappelling. Eliot checked on the Autobots, and saw that only Ironhide, who was watching Parker carefully to see if she needed help, and the blue Arcee triplet, who was leaving even as he checked, were left.

Parker moved out of the way of a punch, before downing one of the men in the head with a sharp kick to the head. Spinning around, she viciously backhanded a soldier trying to sneak up behind her, sending him stumbling back into a wall.

From the corner of her eye she saw Eliot finish with his harness and nod at Ironhide, indicating that he should join the others. He left just as one of the soldiers managed to get lucky, hitting her hard in the ribs, before Eliot rejoined the fight and knocked him out with a head butt. They clothes-lined the last one, who charged at them, and he fell to the ground, clutching his throat as he tried to breath.

Unfortunately, Parker could hear a _lot_ of rapidly approaching footsteps. Evidently, the explosion had attracted more teams. Without wasting another minute, she grabbed Eliot's hand, pulling him over to the hole in the wall and jumped.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Standing at the bottom of Hoover Dam, Optimus Prime looked up the steep slope to see the last of his men descend. All were slightly sore from the stone grating against their metal bodies, despite the surface of the Dam.

With his superior audio's, he could hear the sound of fighting, and, faintly, he could hear the chatter of human soldiers at the top of the Dam, where the barricade was set up, though, from the sound of it, a majority were heading into the base to deal with the explosion. He prayed to Primus that no one looked over the side.

As Ironhide reached the bottom, empty handed, Optimus felt his spark sink. "Ironhide, old friend, where are the humans Will sent to help?"

"The fem-Parker assured me that they would be with us soon," His weapons specialist looked calm to the casual observer, but Optimus knew him better. He seemed surprisingly worried about the humans they had only just met.

Optimus gazed back up in concern only to freeze as two figures literally _jumped _out of the Dam, at a height of five hundred and six point three feet his processors he calculated absently, as he stood, shocked "Wh-"

At their leaders startled sound, eight pairs of optics looked back up from where they came and zoomed in on the two rapidly descending bodies of their rescuers. Simultaneously, seven sparks froze in horror. The remaining Autobot also felt his spark clench, but in relief, rather than shock.

–_It is something called rappelling- _Ironhide told the others over his internal comm. _- Both humans are safe, they have ropes and harnesses attached to the Dam-_

His relief was sharply distinguished as gunfire roared out. Looking up higher, it was clear that Optimus prayer was in vain as those still at the blockade at the top of the Dam fired down on them. The Autobots moved back, arms shielding their optics as they continued to watch over the humans who had saved them.

A pair of sharp optics saw the spray of blood, the rope shudder and the body's infinitesimal jerk of the target as she continued her descent.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Parker knew things weren't going well when she felt a burning sensation in her side, forcing her to exhale sharply. The force of the bullet knocked her, divesting some of her control of the fall. Thankfully, a moment later, she noticed a decrease in speed, indicating that she and Eliot would soon stop being visible targets.

The ground grew closer, and the mechanical descender quickly came to a stop about three feet from the ground. Parker climbed out of her harness, knowing that Eliot was doing the same. She was loath to lose equipment like this, but it was apparent that she was going to have to leave it all behind, so she left the harnesses hanging in midair. "Nate, we're at the bottom. Give us a location and we'll meet you there."

"Riverside, use the main roads, but split into the original groups. Try to go different ways to throw off any one trying to get a track on y-"

"Parker, Eliot, are you alright? We heard gunfire!" Sophie's worried voice came over the comm.'s cutting off the rest of Nate's sentence.

Casting a look at the wet patch and hole in Parker's black suit jacket, Eliot knew that he would have to lie to keep Sophie and the other's calm. "We're fine for the moment. Let's just get going."

The last part was mainly directed at the Autobots who took the hint. Ironhide, whose optics had narrowed at the man's lie, and Optimus picked up the startled humans and placed them safely on their shoulders.

"Hold tight, it will be quicker if we carry you." Optimus warned them. He signalled to the others and they moved out.

Less than a minute later, an explosion lit the sky in a roar of flames. Ironhide looked back to see a large section of the face of the Dam missing, and the top looking slightly unstable. They needed to move quickly in case the structure didn't hold.

He was prevented from voicing his thoughts by the gravelly voice of the human male, Eliot. "Parker-what the hell was that?"

The blonde on his shoulder tilted her head and smiled in childish delight. "It was pretty. I had spare time when I was going through the vents, and I like explosions."

Ironhide looked at the femme on his shoulder in amazement. He wasn't the only one either. Eliot, on the other hand, just nodded calmly. "Good plan."

"Optimus, sir, the Dam may not be completely stable. We should hurry," The weapons specialist suggested.

Optimus nodded. "Autobots, roll out!"

Splashing through the shallow river, no longer having to worry about discovery, they made their way south in fast time, with both Parker and Eliot clinging on tightly. The rocky surface of the Black Canyon that surrounded the Dam made it impossible for vehicles to follow them. About five minutes later, they clambered up the sides of the canyon and began running towards the main road.

The moment they got to the mercifully clear highway, Ironhide scooped Parker off his shoulder and placed her inside Ratchet, while Eliot clambered inside of Optimus, whose new alt mode was a very unflattering bus. They divided into the same two groups as before, with the first, consisting of Eliot, Prime, Ironhide, and the twins speeding off ahead to put some distance between them and make it look as though they weren't travelling together. The rest travelled at the legal limit.

_-Ratchet, Parker sustained a bullet wound in her left side during the escape. It is in need of bandaging.- _Ironhide sent to the medic over his internal comm. as his group quickly increased the distance between them.

The foul tempered medic cursed _–Frag it all, why didn't the foolish femme mention it earlier? And why in the name of Primus didn't __**you**__?-_

Ironhide gave a dark chuckle _– there were more important things at the time, Ratch'. She was coping ok with it anyway-_

_-You, me, and my favourite wrench will be having words when this is over, you stupid glitch. Now, leave me alone, I have a patient – _

Within Ratchets ambulance form, Parker was sat in the passenger seat, putting pressure on her left side. Looking up at the road, she jumped when someone appeared in the driver's seat.

"Parker, I've been informed that you have an injury that requires immediate care. I must ask that you get into the back and allow me to take a look." The holoform said.

Parker waved him off. "It's fine. Not bleeding that much anymore."

"Parker, what's not bleeding that much? You said you were fine!" Sophie's frantic voice screeched loudly in her ear, causing her to scowl at Ratchets holoform.

"In the back, _now._" He growled

Parker huffed and moved into the back, to the stretcher, ignoring Sophie's questions, which were directed at both her and Eliot. "How can you drive yourself and treat me?"

"Think of it as extreme multi tasking, now remove your shirt and let me take a look." He said impatiently.

She shrugged off her ragged jacket and pulled her blood soaked white shirt over her head, wincing slightly at the movement.

Ratchet ran his scanners over her body. "Nine millimetre bullet wound, it went straight through, missed anything important. Accelerated heart beat and elevated adrenaline levels. Bruise to the right jaw and left ribs, just above the bullet wound. Several abrasions on the hands. We should clean those up with isopropanol alcohol to prevent infection."

"You got _shot?_ Eliot, I'm going to kill you. How did you not know!" Sophie screeched. Parker winced at the sudden loudness in her ear but said nothing, leaving Sophie to yell at Eliot.

Much like Parker, Ratchet ignored the mothering grifter and started to get to work. Pulling out swabs, needle, thread, bandages and a bottle from somewhere above Parkers head, he doused a swab with isopropanol alcohol and cleaned the wound in her side, removing dried blood from her stomachs and side and checking for dirt in the wound itself. That done, he stitched it up and bandaged her side, before applying Neosporin to the grazes on her hands.

About halfway through, Parker started fidgeting, fed up of sitting still for so long. This elicited several threats from Ratchet, which were completely disregarded.

"Primus, femme, why couldn't you just sit _still!" _the medic snapped. "Back in the front, and put your seatbelt on!"

With that, the holoform vanished.

Insolently, Parker took her time putting her jacket on, giving up the shirt as a lost cause, before climbing back into the passenger seat, and finally answered Sophie.

Meanwhile, Ratchet informed Ironhide that Parker had been taken care of, only to break away from the conversation when she started to fiddle with his radio.

"Leave it alone!" the Medic barked, causing the thief to pout sulkily and lean back in the seat, gazing at the rapidly passing scenery.


	6. Chapter 6

**Massive thanks to Starseeded, who Beta'd!!!**

**Chapter 6**

Reaching the midpoint of their journey, though not having caught up with Nate, Sophie, and Sideswipe, who were still a good hour or so ahead, knowing Sideswipe's compulsive need to show off, the two groups met up again in a tunnel on the interstate, along highway forty.

All eight vehicles went into the tunnel, but none of them came out the other side. Of course, other vehicles did, it was a busy road, but to anyone who may have been observing, cars' matching the description of the Autobots failed to leave the end of the tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, the Autobots skidded to a stop. Eliot climbed out of Optimus and moved over to Parker, who had just climbed out of Ratchet wearing a field dressing around her waist, just visibly under the suit jacket she wore.

"What are they-?"

"They're getting new alt modes. Ratchet said that Ironhide spotted a couple of police 'copters a few minutes ago. He hacked the frequency and they're searching for cars with their description."

The pair stood and watched as each of the Autobots scanned a new mode. Optimus chose a Peterbilt 386, dark blue, which he had to download the spec's for. The twins chose the same car, a nifty Volkswagen _Up_, though thankfully they chose different colours, in orange and turquoise. Arcee had also chosen different alt modes, and were now disguised as a silver BMW R32, a black Yamaha YZFR15, and a purple Suzuki GF500f. Ironhide and Ratchet had chosen Hummers, a black H3 alpha and a dark green H2 with 'search and rescue' on the side.

"Not exactly subtle, are they." Eliot commented. "I mean, a new Peterbilt, two top of the line hummers, three gorgeous bikes – the only subtle ones are the twins!"

"We are limited by those we find the best fit, Eliot," Ratchet informed the Hitter, taking objection at the 'two hummers' – why did Ironhide have to choose an alt so similar to his? "Optimus couldn't physically transform into anything small than a mode like the one he has, although he could go slightly larger. The weight distribution of the vehicles also hinders us, and it is easier to choose a model that is technologically advanced so our exposed mechanical parts do not look out of place."

Eliot nodded at the explanation. "We should get going if we want to make it to Box Springs by eight. It would probably be a good idea for us to split up again."

This time, Parker went with her original group, while Eliot went with Ratchet, who wanted to check the hitter for injuries, and the Arcee triplets. She clambered into the giant black Hummer, pleasantly surprised to find the seats already warmed up and the heating on.

"I owe you a debt, Parker," Ironhide informed her as they continued on their journey. "We all do."

"Well you saved me from wasting my explosives. It's even." She told him, never liking to leave debts with people.

"Nonetheless, if there is anything you need-"

"Don't worry about it, really." Parker cut him off.

They fell into a comfortable silence, and without conversation to distract her, Parker quickly drifted to sleep as the adrenaline left her system, leaving Ironhide to his thoughts and her puzzling last sentence before she fell asleep: "You guys aren't like horses at all."

Inexplicably, he felt drawn to the blonde thief. It could have been the way she just dropped in one them, or her lack of reaction when he pointed her cannons at her, or the way she just carried on regardless of being shot and didn't make a fuss. There were numerous reasons. He found himself hoping that he would see her again.

Parker just carried on slumbering in the driver's seat, unaware of his contemplation, or the way he turned the heating up so she wouldn't get cold, and avoided the bumps in the road.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The sun was happily rising when the last vehicle pulled into a clearing in Box Springs Mountain Park, Riverside. All eleven passengers clambered out of the cars, allowing eleven of the twelve, seemingly ordinary vehicles to transform into giant humanoid forms ranging from just over eleven feet to forty, dwarfing the humans and some of the younger trees around them.

Silence reigned for a few minutes, as no one knew what to say. For some of them, this was something they had waited so eagerly for that they just didn't know what to say. The rest felt like they were intruding on a private moment.

It was Ratchet who broke the silence by scanning the humans present for injuries. "Well, remarkably, you appear to have kept yourselves healthy while we've been gone."

After that, no one seemed to be able to stop talking.

Little Annabelle Lennox virtually through herself out of her mother's grasp and raced over to Ironhide, calling out "'Hide! Hide, miss you!"

The Mech chuckled and placed his hand on the ground, allowing her to climb onto it before lifting his hand and its cargo to his face to talk to the child properly. "And I you, youngling. Have you been safe?"

Will and Sarah followed slowly behind his daughter, though still eager to see his guardian. "We've been fine, 'Hide. It's you we've been worried about. We couldn't find you guys anywhere. Keller couldn't do anything about the situation, Galloway had presidential orders to take control of NEST and he put a tail on us. Plus, Annie was a real pain at bedtime without you to read her a story."

Ironhide looked at the girl in hand and smiled. "Well, I do read a good story."

"You're telling me," Sarah commented, "whenever I tried reading her a story, she told me I was doing it the wrong way"

"Sarah, I am pleased to find you well"

"We missed you, big fella." She told him softly.

Mikaela and Sam were sat with Bee beneath one of the tree's, anything important they had to say had been discussed on the long journey from the safe house. All three were content for the time being to sit in silence as they enjoyed each other's presence after so long apart.

Meanwhile, Epps had approached Optimus. "Sarah's right Boss 'Bot, we missed you guys. Not the same without you."

"There was nothing any of us could have done to prevent the situation Epps. But it is in the past now. Thanks to Nate and his team, we are free to continue our mission"

"NEST has been deactivated Optimus. The base has been locked down and our men have been forcibly discharged. There's no legal way we can still help, but that don't matter. We're still gonna lend you guy's hand or two. Just point the way."

Nate and his team stood to the side and observed the reunion.

"We did the right thing by taking on this case. However disbelieving it was" he said.

"Speak for yourself, man. It just confirmed my theories." Hardison countered. "So. Cool."

"They may be 'cool', Hardison, but there are other thing to worry about." Sophie glared at him, as though asking how he could forget. "Parker, dear, how are you feeling? Are you in pain?"

"I'm _fine, _Sophie. Really."

"Are you sure?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

An hour or so later, Nate looked around, checking on his team. Eliot stood with Epps, Sideswipe and Jolt talking about fighting technique, while Ironhide and Ratchet fussed about Parker and her wound, who was holding the Lennox's toddler (thankfully too young to be taught how to pick locks). The child was chatting away at Ironhide. Sam was just sat with 'Bee, not saying anything, but enjoying being close with each other after the time apart. The twins were arguing about something that Nate didn't care to know about, and Hardison was perched on the back of his fan, messing around with his laptop.

Leaving Sophie's side as she chatted with Arcee, Sarah Lennox and Mikaela about something, he approached Will and Optimus, both striking figures, who looked as though they were having a rather serious conversation.

"Gentlemen, I'm sorry to interrupt, but there are a few things we need to clear up before you go."

Both leaders turned to look at the third. Nate opened the case in his hand and turned it around to show them the contents.

"Just to let you know, Hardison scoured their systems and couldn't find anything about any experiments. They kept a team of scientists on hand to monitor you, but otherwise, they were using the Dam for a whole host of things that had nothing to do with the Autobots."

The relief was plain on both Will and Optimus' face. Nate grimaced at the thought of Cybertronian technology at the hands of humans.

"We've also sorted you guys out with new identities. Some of the papers contain a full history for both of you, so I suggest that you read through them carefully and learn the details. The rest contains new accounts, driving licenses, insurance numbers and so on. Eliot's included a few of his contacts to get you weapons. If you plan on hunting down the Decepticons, you're gonna need some help. If they ask, just tell them that Eliot sent you. It should get you a hefty discount."

Will looked at him in amazement, "I don't think we can thank you enough for what you've done."

"It's what we do. Galloway is likely to be fired, so no worries there. And if he doesn't, then we have a few things that can destroy his career. But he's going to find it hard to continue at the moment anyway. His accounts had a bit of a…accident. All his money went missing, and somehow his house was sold without him knowing. As did the funding for the Hoover Dam base, actually. Rather a strange co-incidence. Especially since it untraceably ended up in the accounts we've put in your name." He finished innocently.

"You are a great man, Nathan Ford. We owe a debt to both you _and_ your team for what you have done today." Optimus Prime spoke softly.

"It's no problem. You guys should get out of here before someone gets suspicious. Satellite imaging and all that." Nate waved off the thanks.

Around him, the Autobots broke off their conversations. Farewells were said, and they stood in front of their leader.

"Autobots, roll out!"

The sight of seven Autobots transforming into vehicles was an amazing sight, no matter that it wasn't the first, or the second time they had seen it. Will and Sam climbed into Ironhide and Bee respectively and the Autobots pulled away onto the main road, Optimus Prime in the lead.

Together, the team watched their clients drive off in silence, each contemplating what the consequences of their actions would mean for the world.

"After this, I think we should lay low for a while, man. We just messed with people high in the government" Hardison broke the silence.

"May I suggest Italy? There's a pair of _the_ most gorgeous Prada pumps that I am _dying_ to get my hands on, and they're only available in Italy at the moment. Naturally, I need the hand bag that matches them too" Sophie put the idea forward hopefully.

Looking around the team, Nate saw no objections. "Italy it is."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A **big thanks** to everyone who reviewed or added my to favs/alert. I'm overwhelmed at the fact that my little story attracted over 900 hits and 27 reviews (as of the time I uploaded this chapter)!!!

It will be moved to the crossover section at the end of the week – I'm slightly proud of the fact that it's the first crossover of its type and want to be the first to put it in the right section, lol.

And as a side note, since it's mostly Americans who have read this (I don't think Leverage has aired in any other country) – I'm sorry for blowing up Hoover Dam, please don't hurt me!!!!!

So a huge thanks to everyone who's read this fic!!!


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